Newspapers worldwide embrace web syndication

Serraval, France

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Updated: Apr 01, 2013 22:39 IST

Newspapers, once reluctant to charge readers for access to their Web sites, have begun to do so in droves.

Across America, Europe and Asia, pay walls are proliferating as publishers struggle to make up for low revenues on print products. Online advertising has begun leveling off, which is accelerating the push for new internet business models.

The trend has taken in some longtime holdouts, like The Washington Post, which said in March it would start charging online readers this summer.

The San Francisco Chronicle also plans to start digital subscriptions, and the number of American papers with pay walls has climbed to more than 300.

In Europe, the recent conversion has been even more striking.

Last week, the Telegraph Media Group, publisher of the biggest broadsheet in Britain, said it would start charging British domestic readers for access, having previously introduced a pay wall for its international audience.

The biggest tabloid in Britain, The Sun, has also confirmed plans to erect a pay wall. New York Times